Do Employers Take Married Women More Seriously?

"Since I got married, I am taken more seriously with clients and colleagues in the business world."

“If women really wanted to change society, they could do it. I plan to change it. I just want to get married first." The character Ally McBeal once said this on the show Ally McBeal. When the show started Ally was a single lawyer obsessed with finding the one so she could get married already. Perhaps Ally felt like because she was the single girl in her office that she wasn't taken as seriously by the partners at her law firm as her married colleagues. Of course, she may not have been taken seriously because she hallucinated dancing babies on a regular basis, talked to herself and wore skirts that barely covered her ass but part of it could have been her single status. As Sheila Robinson Kiss, psychotherapist, author, humorist, and trainer, said "marriage represents a secret rite of passage in the eyes of many people that represents a sense of stability, reliability, and grounding."

According to a recent Dutch study, women who keep their maiden name after they get married are more likely to make more money because they are considered to be more job-focused and professional. Professors at the University of Tilburg looked at the data of 2,400 married women. Three-quarters had taken their husband's name, 7% had hyphenated last names and the rest kept their maiden names. According to their findings, women who kept their names had higher average education levels, fewer children they worked more and had higher salaries.

We asked a few women what they thought a ring on the finger did for them in their careers. Tasha Mayberry, Vice President Marketing for Corporate Compensation Plans, said: "I've been in the professional career world since age 22 and at age 27 became the VP of Marketing for an insurance brokerage firm…and yes, since I married my husband this past February, I am taken more seriously with clients, colleagues and the general business world."